We're happy to report that the well-traveled female Piping Plover nicknamed Bandit by her nest monitors in New York has returned to her breeding grounds. She was sighted by a birder, photographer, and Audubon volunteer on the afternoon of Thursday, March 22 at her usual summer hangout, Breezy Point, in Queens. We had spotted Bandit on March 11, feeding at Topsail Inlet on Lea-Hutaff Island with 22 other Piping Plovers.

In a blog post, Andrew Baksh describes his sighting of Bandit and provides great photos and links to other posts about her, including nesting accounts from 2010.

According to reports, when she was seen on Thursday Bandit was already paired up, and she and her mate were defending a territory. We don't know how long Bandit stopped over in North Carolina, or if she made other stops along the way, but she likely made the trip in fewer than the 11 days separating the North Carolina and New York sightings, since she has also had time to locate a mate. Dr. Cheri Gratto-Trevor of Environment Canada, who heads up the Bahamas banding program, reports that Bandit is the second Bahamas Piping Plover to have returned to its summer grounds in 2012.

-- Lindsay Addison